Choice of Intermediary for Leisure Travel Arrangements

Travellers can plan and arrange holidays themselves online or through the supplier, or use the services of a travel organizer, such as a travel agent. Consumers of travel services will seek to optimize choices by selecting a distribution channel which will provide them with the greatest perceived value. The primary goal of this study is to explore the underlying factors that influence consumer behaviour in making travel decisions, with specific reference to choosing between booking through a travel agent or online. Research with a perspective on travel decision-making in South Africa is limited. This study surveyed 408 respondents residing in South Africa using a structured questionnaire examining preference in booking holiday flights or accommodation through a travel agent or Internet. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify factors influencing traveller decision-making. Factors that influence travel decision-making were identified to include ‘trust’, ‘convenience and adoption of technology’, ‘best deal and price’, and ‘personal contact’. Travellers who preferred booking through the Internet found the potential of technology to save time and effort and to be convenient, due to the Internet being available day and night, important advantages of booking online. Travellers who preferred booking through a travel agent placed a premium on personal contact and social interaction between traveller and travel agent. They further valued the travel experience and ability of the travel agent to group transactions

The ideal companion: the role of mobile phone attachment in travel purchase intention

Mobile phones have become a highly personal tool for individuals and have revolutionized many aspects of travellers’ lives. Indeed, mobile phones can be considered an integral part of travellers’ trip routines, thus engendering strong feelings of attachment to them. Following the stimulus–organism– response model, this paper analyses how certain stimuli (travellers’ addiction to their device, perceived control, perceived entertainment, and subjective norms) influence travellers’ mobile phone attachment (MPA) and intention to purchase travel using the device. The results of this model show the importance of personal and environmental factors in increasing MPA and reveal how this attachment positively influences intention toward mobile shopping for travel-related purchases. This work proposes a model in both the mobile and travel contexts with MPA as the central variable. As such, this paper contributes to the academic literature and yields several recommendations for business practice.Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ECO2017-82107-R)

Passengers satisfaction with the technologies used in smart airports: an empirical study from a gender perspectiva

This work was supported by Banco Santander-Autonomous University of Madrid − 10th Call for Interuniversity Cooperation Projects UAMSantander-CEAL-AL/2017-07 (Smart Airports: Impact on airport quality and effects on tourist competitiveness

Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research

This paper reviews the published articles on eTourism in the past 20 years. Using a wide variety of sources, mainly in the tourism literature, this paper comprehensively reviews and analyzes prior studies in the context of Internet applications to Tourism. The paper also projects future developments in eTourism and demonstrates critical changes that will influence the tourism industry structure. A major contribution of this paper is its overview of the research and development efforts that have been endeavoured in the field, and the challenges that tourism researchers are, and will be, facing

Demographic or Psychographic Hotel Segmentation? The Emerging Market of Domestic Women Business Travellers

Market segmentation is a key marketing strategy practised by hotels. Adoption of a combination approach where demographic variables are amalgamated with the psychographic constructs can be utilized to segment the women on a domestic business trip. This will yield enlightening results for the hospitality marketers which will eventually enable them to design marketing mixes and products suited to fulfil the requirements and preferences of this particular segment of women. Using online surveys along with qualitative techniques for collecting data and analysing them through multivariate statistical techniques may take the hospitality industry to the next level of success

Cultural dislocation & consequences. An exploratory study of illicit drug activity in a Traveller community in north Dublin.

The misuse of drugs among our community here in Dublin 15 is of great concern to Blanchardstown Traveller Development Group and it is a concern for Traveller families and for the community as a whole. Traveller’s are a marginalised group in Irish society and are one of the most excluded groups socially and culturally in the country and this is no different here in Dublin 15. What is different is the impact that the misuse of drugs is having on our community. Travellers make up less than one percent of the national population, mostly live in extended families on Traveller sites so when drugs hit our community its more visible and public, so fear of looking for support is harder and this research has identified some of these issues. This research has also identified the type of drug misuse which means we can now start to look at the local responses and supports that are needed to address these serious issues which are having a very negative effect on individuals, parents, families and on the community. The research has identified the local issues and made clear recommendations that need to be acted upon

Toward the future of global corporate travel management

This study aims to develop the global corporate travel management. In details, it reflected the current challenges in travel programme of buyers, discovered future scenarios of business travel and recommended strategic short and long-term actions. The study used qualitative approach to recognize challenges in corporate travel management. Interviews with sourcing and travel managers/assistants from three same size corporate buyers were conducted in October, 2017. Additionally, scenarios were built based on conventional intuitive logics method. Therein, 88 macro-economic and industrial trends were identified through secondary research. Discussions were organized with experts to rank the trends. Main findings from empirical research are a list of challenges in corporate travel management. Additionally, four scenarios “Demand More”, “Brand New”, “More Opportunities” and “No Surprise” were created based on two driven factors: The distribution of airlines standard network in the market share and intensity of tailored made travel services. In each scenario, proposed main travel solutions providers are travel agencies, direct booking aggregators and travel agencies, the internet, and GDS operators respectively. At the end, short and long-term strategic actions such as rewarding travellers when savings and driving toward traveller-centricity were recommended. The study contributed new aspects to the academic world. It built four future scenarios of business travel from corporate buyer’s perspective. After that, it presented scenarios implications and strategic actions for stakeholders. Such approach was not commonly used in previous studies. Besides, the study identified new participant - NDC aggregators – and new roles of GDS operators and metasearch engine in business travel distribution channels. In practice, the study tackled real business issue. It recognized the challenges and gave solutions to improve corporate travel management through short-term actions. Four scenarios and their implications mitigate the consequences of changes and clarify the managers concern. Lastly, long-term strategy navigates the global corporate travel management, at the same time, gradually changes the mindset of manager in suppliers’ negotiation and travel management

Multidimensional Facets of Perceived Risk in Mobile Travel Booking

Despite the growing prevalence of smartphones in daily life and travel context, travellers still perceive an extent of risk associated with using their smartphone to book travel products. In order to alleviate or reduce perceived risk, it is important to better understand the dimensions of and the factors that contribute to perceived risk. This study analysed 411 responses from an online panel to examine perceived risk in mobile travel booking and identified the following facets: time risk, financial risk, performance risk, privacy/security risk, psychological risk, physical risk, and device risk. Several antecedents of perceived risk were identified. Perceived collection of personal information via smartphones contributes positively, while consumer innovativeness, trust, and visibility contribute negatively to perceived risk. Further, the predictive validity of perceived risk is confirmed as it significantly explains perceived usefulness, attitude, and behavioural intention in mobile travel booking. Implications to manage perceived risk and its antecedents are provided

Exploring ways to improve personalisation: The influence of tourist context on service perception

© 2019 Texas A and M University. The heterogeneity and dynamic nature of tourist needs requires an advanced understanding of their context. This study aims to investigate the effects of observable factors of internaland external contexts on tourist perceptions towards personalised information services performance. An exploratory approach is used to test measurement invariance and the moderating effects of personal, travel, technical and social parameters of the tourist context, when applicable. The findings demonstrate that contextual factors motivate tourists to attribute different meanings to the parameters of the service, that have already been personalised for them. Individually developed personalisation design solutions are required for each travel context